I’ve written about Israeli wine from Biblical Times until the 1990s. Here’s Israeli wine from the last decade:

Now is the time to look back at the 2000’s, as the first decade of the 21st century comes to a close. It was a very good decade for Israeli wines. The boutique boom that began in the 1990’s continued. There are now hundreds of small wineries making wine on a domestic basis. Israel received third party recognition for improved quality at the very highest possible level. Wine culture also took a leap forward. On the downside, the wine market was static and annual consumption remained at a mere 4 liters a head.

Wine Business

Wineries historically have been owned privately, by families, by individual growers or co-operatives. In the last ten years, larger business concerns entered the Israeli wine business for the first time.

Israel’s largest brewer, Tempo Beer Industries, the Goldstar-Heineken-Pepsi Cola group, bought  Barkan Winery. Barkan is the country’s second largest winery with brands like Barkan and Segal wines, Keglevich vodka and Stock brandy.

Israel’s largest beverage group, the Central Bottling Company, producers or marketeers of Coca Cola-Carlsberg-Johnnie Walker, also entered the wine business purchasing Tabor Winery. Tabor was a small boutique winery harvesting only 47 tonnes of grapes in 2000. During the decade it became Israel’s fastest growing winery, harvesting 981 tonnes in 2008.

The latest new owner to enter the wine business is the supermarket chain Hetzi Hinam, which purchased Binyamina Winery. They then began an extensive, investment program to refurbish the winery. Other large wineries also made heavy investments during the 2000’s. Golan Heights Winery opened Galil Mountain at Kibbutz Yiron, Carmel Winery built Kayoumi Winery in the Upper Galilee and Yatir Winery in the Negev. Barkan moved from Ariel to a brand new winery at Hulda and Teperberg moved from Moza to a new winery at Tzora.

Overall the scale of investment may be taken as an expression of optimism in Israeli wine and as a confirmation of the continued drive to better quality, which exists at all levels throughout the industry.

Captains of Industry

The most influential CEO in Israeli wine during the 1990’s was Segev Yerovam, of the Golan Heights Winery. This was at a time when the Golan were setting all the standards. The 2000’s have seen two figures dominate.

Firstly, Shalom Blayer, the outgoing CEO of Golan Heights Winery. He deserves credit for guiding the winery to its 25th year. By the time he left

in 2008, the Golan had become a very large enterprise indeed, producing 6 million bottles of quality table wines. They had their own subsidiary in the United States, a new winery in the Galilee, Galil Mountain, and set up their own distribution system.

The second person is Israel Ivzan, chairman & CEO of Carmel Winery. Ivzan joined Carmel in 2005. He inherited a company heavily losing money on one side, with oversized, disproportionate investments to improve quality on the other. The company had undergone a series of management upheavals. With skill and good management, Ivzan steadied the ship, returned the company to profitability and yet, at the same time, he has also reinforced and continued to encourage the move to quality wines. The rejuvenation of Israel’s largest winery was vital for the health of the industry as a whole.

Winemakers

The winemakers of the 1990’s were Victor Schoenfeld and Yair Margalit representing commercial and boutique wineries respectively.

Winemakers of this latest decade include: Victor Schoenfeld, again, for maintaining standards of the Golan Heights Winery, even as the winery grew larger. Lior Laxer, for overseeing the rejuvenation of Carmel, from a wine quality point of view. This also included changing the viticultural  practices with the growers. Eran Goldwasser of Yatir and Eyal Rotem, of Clos de Gat, for bringing their newly founded wineries to be amongst Israel’s very best.

Others may see the effect of their work recognized over a longer period. With less fanfare and on a smaller scale, Uri Hetz started to plant and research Mediterranean varieties at Chateau Golan. His exploratory work may yet influence and inspire the direction of Israeli winemakers in the future.

Wineries

The best quality wineries of the 1990’s were Golan Heights Winery, Domaine du Castel and Margalit Winery.

During the 2000’s, the so called ‘medium sized’ wineries had a very successful decade. Whilst giving the impression of being boutique wineries, they were large enough to be in supermarkets. This meant that wineries of the size of Dalton, Galil Mountain, Recanati, and lately Tabor, had the best of both worlds. It was a successful combination commercially.

During this time, some historic names fell by the wayside. ‘Carmel Winery’ replaced ‘Carmel Mizrahi’ and ‘Teperberg 1870’ replaced Efrat. Askalon Wines disappeared, at the same time that the Segal brand was bought by Barkan.

Carmel was without doubt, the comeback of the decade both in terms of improved image and actual quality of its wines. Binyamina and Teperberg progressed impressively with their own quality advances, a far cry from the Eliaz and Efrat of the past. Zion was the latest of the traditional wineries to make a move to quality wines.

The decade was also a period when a number of new wineries came onto the scene, which though commercial boutique wineries, were built also with aesthetics in mind. This was a relatively new concept in Israel. Amphorae, Flam, and Chateau Golan, were examples of quality wineries at which the pursuit of quality, extended to the beauty of the design of the buildings and surroundings.

In the late 2000’s the largest wineries were: Carmel, Barkan, Golan Heights, Teperberg, Binyamina, Tishbi, Tabor, Galil Mountain, Recanatii and Dalton. Of these, Tabor was founded in 1999, Galil Mountain and Recanati in 2000, and in the mid nineties, Dalton was still a small boutique winery.

In the year 2000, the largest five wineries had 90% of the market, and their share had only dropped to 85% by 2008. So despite all the new small and medium sized wineries, the market is still controlled by the big five.

A noticeable turnaround was that in the nineties, most of the leading wineries, apart from Golan Heights Winery, produced spirits and liqueurs as well as wine. In 2005 Carmel stopped producing spirits, liqueurs and non grape products to focus on wine. By the end of this last decade, most of the top ten are focused solely on wine production.

Third Party Recommendations

The best achievement of the decade was by Castel, in being awarded the coveted four stars by Hugh Johnson in his Pocket Wine Guide. This is rare and only given to the world’s best wineries. Likewise Yarden continued to be invited to the New York Wine Experience, open only to the world’s top 250 wineries.

Each year of the Wine Report, Israeli wineries featured amongst  the ‘Most Exciting Wine Finds’ chosen by Tom Stevenson. Castel, Carmel, Clos de Gat, Flam, Margalit, Recanati, Yarden and Yatir each had wines in this list, Castel, Carmel and Yarden were successful on more than one occasion. This showed more than anything the strength in depth of Israeli wine.

The most successful new wineries were Yatir and Clos de Gat. One a producer of kosher wine, the other non kosher. Both produced high quality wines, a fact which was re-emphasised by Robert Parker, Hugh Johnson, The Wine Spectator and The Wine Advocate. Apart from the quality of their wines, both have their unique selling points. Yatir Winery is situated in the Negev Desert and its vineyards come from Yatir Forest, a totally new viticultural region and a meeting place between desert and forest. Clos de Gat, is a genuine estate winery, surrounded by its own vineyards. This is something that is extremely rare in Israel.

Kashrut

A noticeable trend, was the move by small wineries to produce kosher wines. This began with Castel and Tzora. It was followed by wineries like Agur, Alexander, Bazelet Ha Golan and Bravdo.

Most encouraging was the essay written by Mark Squires in the Wine Advocate. He tasted Israel’s best wines and came to the conclusion that Kashrut had no effect on wine quality. This is something those in the trade know, but the fact that this was written in the most influential wine publication of them all, was a great  boost to wineries producing kosher wines.

Generally, the largest wineries in Israel produce kosher wines, either because of religious conviction or economics. In the last ten years, there are three quite large boutique wineries that have emerged, that produce non kosher wines: Flam, Tulip and Chateau Golan.

Wines

Whereas, the most successful Israeli winery in competitions during the decade was Recanati, the individual wine with the most major awards was Yarden HeightsWine. In the last ten years, it has been Israel’s most regular winner of gold medals in the best European and Israeli wine tasting competitions like: Vinexpo, Challenge du Vin, International Wine Challenge and Eshkol Ha’zahav. It also received 93 points from The Wine Advocate.

In a world where scores are so important, the highest score given for an Israeli wine by an international critic was the 95 points awarded to Carmel Sha’al Vineyard Gewurztraminer, Late Harvest 2004. The wine critic was Howard Goldberg who writes for Decanter, The Wine News and New York Times.

The most eagerly awaited recognition for an Israeli wine came in 2008 when an Israeli wine was finally selected as one of the ‘Top 100 Wines of The Year’ by the Wine Spectator. The successful wine was Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. The Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon has been a great ambassador for Israel and one of the most consistently good wines over the last twenty five years.

However the accolade of Israeli wine of the decade has to go to Yatir Forest 2003. This was the leading Israeli red wine in the first ever tasting of Israeli wine by Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate. This tasting was long overdue, and given its very high profile, it did more to advance the credibility of Israeli wine in the last ten years than any other single event. Yatir Forest, produced by Yatir Winery at Tel Arad, received 93 points, which equaled the highest score ever given by Robert Parker for any Israeli, kosher or eastern Mediterranean wine.

The main disappointment was that Rose did not take off like everyone predicted. This despite the fact that there are some very good Rose wines in Israel, and they are ideal for the Israeli climate.

Wine Regions

Not much was heard about the Upper Galilee in the 1990’s. However, in the last ten years the Upper Galilee has developed into a quality wine region, no less important than the Golan Heights. Today Alexander, Barkan, Binyamina, Carmel, Chillag, Dalton, Flam, Galil Mountain, Margalit, Recanati, Saslove, Segal and Tulip are all wineries whose best red wines come from the Upper Galilee. Not surprisingly the Upper Galilee and Golan Heights, with all the new vineyards being planted, will soon, jointly, be the largest wine region in Israel. In the nineties, the coastal regions of Samson/ Shefela and Shomron/ Mt. Carmel were the largest wine growing regions.

Furthermore the Judean Hills, with success of wineries like Castel, Clos de Gat, and Ella Valley , has also been seen as a region that can make great wines. Back in the nineties, it was thought that only in the Golan Heights could world class Israeli wines be made.

Grape Varieties

In the nineties, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot were heavily planted . Wines made from Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Gewurztraminer and White Riesling were also becoming available.

The grape variety of the closing decade was Shiraz. In the year 2000, there were only 45 tonnes of Shiraz harvested in Israel. This was just 0.10% of the total number of wine grapes in Israel. By 2008 it was already the fourth planted red variety (after Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Carignan) with 4.5% of the total grapes. Furthermore, it had become a quality rival for the all conquering Cabernet Sauvignon, particularly for those wineries believing that Israel’s future lies with Mediterranean varieties.

The revival of quality Carignans and Petite Sirahs were reminders that varieties associated with the worst in Israeli wines, could produce wines of real regional character if old vines were used and yields were drastically reduced. The first varietal single vineyard Argaman was also produced, for those seeking the Israeli connection.

During the decade, Cabernet Franc became a popular varietal wine with a number of wineries, and interesting wines are now available from Viognier and Barbera grapes. Another newcomer was Petit Verdot. Though primarily used as a blending grape, it received a higher profile than Merlot in many of Israel’s finest Bordeaux-style blends.

Importers & Distributors

The big importers have expanded their portfolios. There are a far greater variety of wines being imported than in the nineties. Prices have also come down. Furthermore, for the individual wine connoisseur, there have been welcome additions to the list of importers. There are a number of new, small importers, like Giaconda or Mersch, specializing in individual countries or even just particular regions. This has increased the options for the wine lover and the professionalism of the sourcing of wines.

The best importer for fine wines remains Shaked. They still have a list of brands unequalled by others, and bring in a unequalled specialist list of fine wines for collectors. The other main importers are still HaKerem, and Scottish. Segal sold their wine importing business to Hinawi.

The fastest growing imported wine is Cava. Israelis have discovered sparkling wine. Whilst the beginning of the 2000’s showed a tendency to assume an imported wine was automatically better than an Israeli one, the balance has now been redressed and more people are buying blue and white through choice.

Wine Stores

Wine retailing in the early nineties meant pioneers like Super Drink in Ramat Hasharon, Avi Ben in Jerusalem, and Israel Assayel’s shop in Rehovot. Then Derech Ha’Yayin created the retailing revolution in Israel.

In the last ten years, Derech Ha’Yayin has become a chain. However the most impressive advances are by Hinawi. They created their own wine store chain under the brand name: ‘Wine & More’. In terms of number of outlets and range of wines, this group are geared to give Derech Ha’Yayin a run for their money as Israel’s finest wine store chain.

Exports

Exports of Israeli wines grew from US$ 8 million in 2001 to near US$27 million in 2008. Most of this was quality table wine. There was a big decline in the export of Kiddush or Sacramental wine. Whereas in the 1990’s, exports were dominated  by Carmel & Golan, the 2000’s were more equally shared with nearly 90% of the sales between 10 wineries.

During the decade, wineries worked well together to advance exports only sporadically. There was the initial concept of Handcrafted Wines of Israel, a consortium for boutique wineries, various generic tastings organized by the Export Institute in London, Paris and New York and occasional joint Israeli stands at exhibitions like Vinexpo and Prowein. Whilst these initiatives were not unsuccessful, in the main, wineries chose to advance their export sales individually. However overall there was an advance in both exports and in Israel’s winemaking image, so the policy was obviously working.

Media & Communications

In the 1990’s the stars of the wine media were Michael Ben Yosef for his three wine books and Adi Avissar for publishing Wine & Gourmet, a serious wine magazine.

However in the last ten years, the internet has replaced the written word as the main media for wine information. Here the pioneer has been Israel Preker, who formed the website www.israelwines.co.il. When he moved on, he did not sit on his laurels but set up another website: www.wines-israel.co.il. Both are in Hebrew and give up to date information on Israeli wine. Preker also set up www.wines-israel.com, the most informative website on Israeli wines in English.

The prime force for reporting about Israeli wines continues to be Daniel Rogov, the wine & food critic for Ha’aretz Newspaper. His annual Rogov’s Guide To Israeli Wines is on the shelves of the major book stores around the world. This has done as much as anything to advance the Israel brand. Rogov’s Wine Discussion Forum remains the most active forum discussing Israeli and kosher wines. It has an impressive, international following, extending well beyond the Israeli & Kosher boundaries .

Wine Education

In the nineties most of the wine courses had been run by the wineries themselves. Golan Heights Winery had a wine school managed by Yair Hajdu and Kobi Gat used to give courses at Carmel Mizrahi. In the early nineties, self taught wine educators like Israel Assayel ran wine classes and in the late nineties, Barry Saslove pioneered his innovative wine courses.

In the last ten years, ‘Ish Anavim’, independently managed and situated in a beautiful building in Jaffa, was founded to give wine courses and tastings. The winemaking courses pioneered by Barry Saslove in the nineties, were continued by Sorek Winery. These courses continue to train many future small, domestic winemakers.

The major recent development has been the introduction of professional wine courses organized by colleges that run for a full academic year. Both Ramat Gan College and Tel Hai College have serious wine courses with a well organized syllabus and well qualified lecturers. These took wine education in Israel to another plain. Dr. Yair Margalit was the professional force behind the Tel Hai course and Professor Oded Shosheyov was an advisor to the Ramat Gan course. The Ramat Gan course is more geared to wine lovers, whilst Tel Hai is more suitable for prospective winemakers. The Sorek course covers the practical side of winemaking.

Wine Tourism

Carmel closed their visitors centers at Rishon Le Zion and Zichron Ya’acov Wineries after many years. Instead they opened a Center for Wine Culture at Zichron Ya’acov. This is a new concept combining wine education and wine tourism.

The book ‘Wine Route of Israel’ was published by Cordinata. It lists wineries divided up into regions and is the most useful publication to date for wine tourists.

However the most impressive innovation was the Judean (Yehuda) Wine Route, organized by wineries in the Judean Foothills and Judean Hills. With booklets, maps and lately, a very professional and academic study of the terroir of the region, the relevant wineries have shown what is possible working together. An example for all the other regions in Israel to follow.

Wine Competitions

Prospective wineries can send their wines to be judged by the tasting panel of the Wine & Gourmet Magazine. This is a serious panel, made up of winemakers and wine lovers, that meets once a month. However previously there were no wine tasting competitions.

All that has changed in the last ten years. There are now two wine competitions held annually. Terravino is managed by Haim Gan, and it is held in Eilat, usually in November. The competition has international judges each year, and it is open to international wines. It is a competition that is a target for new or young wineries anxious to get a name for themselves and has turned out to be mainly popular with smaller wineries.

Eshkol Ha’Zahav (the Golden Cluster) is a professionally run competition held in Tel Aviv each spring. It is organized by Avi Ben Ami, the ex-sommelier, and is for Israeli wineries only. It is supported by most of the bigger and medium sized Israeli wineries.

Exhibitions

In the nineties there were no Israeli wine exhibitions. Wineries would occasionally appear at Isra Food, but there was nothing devoted to wine. After initial exhibitions at places like The Scottish House in Jaffa, two regular exhibitions have become established in the Israeli calendar.

The first is Israwinexpo, held in February at The Israel Convention Grounds in Tel Aviv every two years. This attracts a fair few international wine personalities, who have subsequently written in complimentary terms about Israeli wine.

The second is Sommelier, a trade show held annually in November, in Tel Aviv. This is organized very professionally by Studio Ben Ami. It is very well regarded by the wine professionals in Israel.

Summary

So Israel made many advances during the last ten years. Certainly the wine industry is almost unrecognizable from where it was twenty years ago.

It is clear that the boom that began in the 1990’s, shows no sign of abating and despite the financial crisis of 2008/9, growers are still planting vineyards and new wineries are opening as though selling wine is the easiest thing in the world. The only cloud on the horizon, is that this boom is not being led by consumers. So there is a lot of work to do to increase the pool of wine drinkers of Israel.

The most encouraging thing about Israeli wine is the depth of quality which extends far beyond the few genuinely world class Israeli wineries and the sheer variety of terroirs and wine styles that can be found in such a small country. Visitors are always struck by the passion, knowledge and dynamism of winery owners, winemakers and growers. Certainly there is much for wines-israel to look forward to in 2010 and the next ten years!

(Note: This article originally appeared on Wines Israel)